A Metropolitan Police officer has been sacked after being accused of sexually assaulting a woman in a hotel room.
Detective Constable Kamal Baldeo, of the south west area command unit, met up with “Ms A” in Brighton on May 8 2021 having exchanged messages on the dating app Hinge, a misconduct hearing was told.
They went out for food and drinks before returning to the officer’s room in a Travelodge, where consensual sexual activity occurred, involving “digital penetration and oral sex”, it was said.
It took a great deal of courage for the complainant to contact police and she deserved a comprehensive and thorough investigation
It was alleged that the officer asked “would it really matter if we had sex?”, to which Ms A replied “yes it would” and made it clear that she did not want to have full sexual intercourse.
The next morning, further consensual activity took place and Mr Baldeo said “can I put it in just once?” and Ms A replied, “no, it doesn’t work like that”, the misconduct panel was told.
It was alleged that the officer then had penetrative sex with her “without her consent”.
A criminal investigation was launched after Ms A reported what happened but no further action was taken against him.
Mr Baldeo accepted that he did have sexual intercourse with Ms A but denied the allegation, saying it was consensual.
In its conclusion on Wednesday, the misconduct panel said: “Whilst the evidence before the panel does not suggest that the officer has a general propensity towards predatory behaviour, the panel is satisfied that on the balance of probabilities, the officer acted as alleged.
“In all the circumstances, the panel found that the officer penetrated Ms A’s vagina with his penis without her consent at all times, and she had repeatedly made this clear to him. It therefore found the factual allegations proved.”
The panel found that he had breached police standards of professional behaviour for discreditable conduct proven at gross misconduct and he was dismissed without notice.
Detective chief superintendent Clair Kelland who leads policing in south west London said: “Despite no further action in the criminal proceedings, we take allegations of this nature extremely seriously.
“It took a great deal of courage for the complainant to contact police and she deserved a comprehensive and thorough investigation.
“Our directorate of professional standards works tirelessly to ensure our officers meet the highest of standards and DC Baldeo’s actions fell very far below these.”
